Dancers

Adrienne O'Leary

Adrienne O’Leary is an independent dance artist based in Edinburgh since 2010. In that time she has worked on numerous projects directed by Tamsyn Russell, Janis Claxton (Janis Claxton Dance), Rob Heaslip (max.IMEALL), Skye Reynolds, Room2Manouevre and as a principal dancer with a production for the Scottish Opera. She graduated with distinction from Queensland University of Technology in 2008 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts - Dance. She has performed internationally at various dance festivals including Resolution!, Shanghai Expo, Beijing Dance Festival, Dublin Dance Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Glasgow Merchant City Festival and Imaginate Festival. Adrienne has been a recipient of two Professional Development grants from Creative Scotland to study Gaga Movement Technique in Tel Aviv (2012) and New York (2014) Adrienne has worked closely with Tamsyn Russell as her lead dancer since 2013 and has developed a particular bond that is recognised throughout her work. She has had significant involvement in the development of Russell’s works created in Scotland, which have been performed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Merchant City Festival Glasgow, Pivotal Dance Expo Inverness, Dance Live Aberdeen, Live Bites Leeds, Get Scotland Dancing and the Cottier Dance Project.

James SouthwardJames graduated from Northern school of contemporary dance in 2012. He completed his degree with a first class honours and also received the Carole Woolridge award for performance. Since graduating he has worked with freelance choreographers such as Simon Birch, Gary Clarke, James Wilton, Anotony Lo Giuidice and in 2014 was a lead dancer with the Scottish Opera 'Anamchara'. He has also worked with Janis Claxton Dance on several projects including 'Chaos and Contingency' which toured galleries and museums across Scotland. James worked on the Great North Run opening ceremony last summer and has been offered a commission from Dance City, Newcastle to create a new solo performance most recently he has worked with Fleur Darkin and Scottish dance theatre. James began working with Tamsyn Russell in February 2014 and is eager to keep making connections and working with Scottish based choreographers.

Fiona JeffriesFiona Jeffries began dancing at an early age. She trained at The Scottish School of Contemporary Dance then went on to complete a Postgraduate Diploma with Performance Company: EDge08 at London Contemporary Dance School, working with choreographers including Rosemary Butcher, Jonathan Lunn, Rosemary Lee and Filip Van Huffel. Fiona has been freelancing since, performing and teaching in the UK, Europe and China. Fiona has worked with Tamsyn Russell since 2008 perfroming in 'ID Me' at Merchant city festival Glasgow,Pivotal Dance Inverness, Heads Up Edinburgh finnge festival and Livebites in Leeds and on research and development projects at Dance Base, Dance House and Citymoves.

﻿ Freya Jeffs﻿

Freya trained at HJ Dance School, Elmhurst and Central School of Ballet, appearing in various productions with The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet. In 2006 she joined Ballet Central, performing in works by Rafael Bonachela, Will Tuckett, andcreating a role in Christopher Bruce's Shift. Freya then joined Scottish Ballet for Ashley Page's productions of Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker and Pastor's Romeo and Juliet. During her time in Scotland she has toured nationally with Errol White Company (IAM), Company Chordelia (Les Amoureux) and worked extensively with Articulate Animal, including the interactive performance of Blowup with visual artist Simon Biggs. Freya appeared in the re-staging of Stephen Pelton’s White Light, and collaborated with him on the development stages of his new work Lauda Adrianna. She is currently working with Ruth Mills Dance and premiered Girlfriend at DanceLive 2013. Not limited to dancing on-stage, Freya enjoys being involved in film-based dance projects, collaborating with Articulate Animal and Director Roddy Simpson to create Traces of Places DANCE:FILM 11, which has been screened internationally and at London’s South Bank. Most recently she appeared in Duncan Campbell’s film for the Venice Biennale Festival 2013, choreographed by Michael Clark. Her music video credits include Zulu Winter, John Cale and The Japanese Popstars and she was also a dancer in the feature film Sunshine on Leith.